Michael F. DiPaola, Ed.D.

CREATING A SCHOOL CULTURE THATPOSITIVELY IMPACTS STUDENTLEARNING

Organizational Culture • The behavior of a group cannot be

predicted solely from an understanding of the personality of each of its members.

• Various social processes intervene.

• In the context of the school organization, we can detect a unique "culture" and "climate."

CULTURE: shared orientations that hold the school together and give it a distinctive identity • Norms (unwritten and informal

expectations which affect behavior)

• Shared Values (conceptions of the desirable)

• Tacit Assumptions of Organizational Members

Since Visible Learning was first published, Hattie has continued to review research and identify variables that impact student learning. He recently added:

Collective Teacher Efficacy as the number one school effect size on student learning ‐ the top of the list (d=1.57)!

What is Collective Efficacy?

• shared perception of teachers in a school that the efforts of the faculty as a whole will have a positive effect on students

• it helps explain the differential effect that schools have on student achievement. 

Culture of Efficacy•Individuals’ beliefs in their capabilities to meet or exceed performance expectations in a particular situation

•a teacher’s belief that he or she can reach even difficult students to help them learn

•one of the few personal characteristics of teachers correlated with student achievement

(Hoy & Woolfolk, 1990, 1993; Tschannen-Moran, WoolfolkHoy, & Hoy, 1998; Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990; Woolfolk, Rosoff, & Hoy, 1990).

EfficacyTeachers with a high sense of efficacy work harder and persist longer even when students are difficult to teach, in part because these teachers believe in themselves and in their students.

(Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993).

Efficacy

Teachers’ sense of personal efficacy is higher in schools where the other teachers and administrators have high expectations for students and where teachers receive help from their principals in solving instructional and management problems

(Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993).

The Good News is That We Have the Ability to Impact 

Efficacy

• By working with teachers, supervisors and colleagues can make positive contributions in building individual and collective efficacy

Sources of Self-Efficacy Information *

• Mastery experiences• Vicarious experiences• Social persuasion• Emotional and

Physiological State

*Albert Bandura (1997)

Sources of Self-Efficacy Information

• Mastery experiences – the most powerful source of efficacy information

• Success in achieving a specific goal builds efficacy

• Efficacy is NOT enhanced when success is achieved through extensive external assistance

Sources of Self-Efficacy Information

• Vicarious experiences – Models of successful teaching are the basis for deciding that the teaching task is manageable and that situational and personal resources are adequate. 

• Watching others teach in skillful and adept ways – especially observing admired, credible, and similar models – can affect the observer’s personal teaching competence and contribute to efficacy.

Sources of Self-Efficacy Information

Emotional and Physiological State • situations that are initially 

perceived as stressful or threatening contribute to a teacher’s beliefs about capability and functioning

Sources of Self-Efficacy Information

Social persuasion• experts, supervisors, and peers 

can provide valuable information about how a teacher’s capabilities match contextual demands 

• provide encouragement and feedback to refine teaching performance 

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS

PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND SUPPORT

Constructive‐Developmental Theory Highlights Challenges of Providing 

Feedback

It's not just what we do or say as leaders when giving feedback that matters developmentally; it's also how we and those receiving the feedback make sense of our experiences (and what is at stake for us on the inside) that illuminates our meaning making. 

The “ways of knowing” can help us be more effective as we attempt to help others become more effective in working with our students…

Understanding the different ways adults “know” and interpret the world can help us consider the developmental fit between the strengths and capacities of those who we provide feedback and what we ask them to do with it

1. The instrumental way of knowing – Just tell me what I need to do!Adults with an instrumental way of knowing have a "what do you have that can help me/what do I have that can help you?" orientation to others2. The socializing way of knowing –Make me feel valued.Socializing knowers have developed more complex reflective capacities. They are motivated by their relationships, society's expectations of them, and their interpersonal connections. reflective capacities

3. The self‐authoring way of knowing – Let me demonstrate competency.When receiving feedback on instructional practice these knowers assess others' feedback in light of what they think is best. 

4. The self‐transforming way of knowing –Let’s figure this out together.Self‐transforming knowers are able to examine issues‐and feedback‐from multiple points of view.

CULTURE of ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

• the level of support principals provide has a significant impact on the effectiveness and job satisfaction of teachers 

• support impacts  job stress, satisfaction, school commitment, health, and intent to stay in teaching

SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS  (FRAYER MODEL)  

Definition Characteristics

Examples Non-ExamplesSupport for Teachers

Supportive Leadership

• behavior of the principal that is supportive and egalitarian

• principal is considerate, helpful, and genuinely concerned about the welfare of teachers

• principal lets faculty know what is expected of them and maintains definite standards of performance

Four Aspects of Principal Support (Based on House’s Theory of Social Support ‐ 1981)

• Emotional support ‐ empathy, caring, and trust

• Instrumental support ‐ behaviors that directly help the person accomplish the task

• Informational support – information to  help coping with personal and environmental problems

• Appraisal support ‐ provides data for self‐evaluation and reflection

Research Has Generated and Refined the Construct of 

“Principal Support” (DiPaola, 2012)Expressive support is the degree to which teachers in the school view their principal as providing emotional and professional support.Instrumental support is the extent to which teachers perceive their principal as providing support in terms of time, resources, and constructive feedback to effectively accomplishing the teaching task. 

Operationalizing Principal Support (Principal Support Scale: DiPaola, 2012*)

Emotional support:• My principal gives me a sense of 

importance that I make a difference• My principal supports my decisions.• My principal trusts my judgment in 

making classroom decisions.• My principal shows confidence in my 

actions.*http://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/mfdipa/researchtools

Operationalizing Principal Support

Instrumental support:• My principal provides adequate 

planning time.• My principal provides time for various 

nonteaching responsibilities.• My principal provides extra assistance 

with I become overloaded.• My principal equally distributes 

resources and unpopular chores. 

Operationalizing Principal Support 

Professional support:• My principal gives me undivided 

attention when I am talking.• My principal is honest and 

straightforward with the staff.• My principal provides opportunities for 

me to grow professionally.• My principal encourages professional 

growth.

Operationalizing Principal Support

Appraisal support:• My principal offers constructive feedback 

after observing my teaching.• My principal provides frequent feedback 

about my performance.• My principal helps me evaluate my 

needs.• My principal provides suggestions for me 

to improve instruction.

Implications for Practice:• Visit classrooms often and 

collect data on both teacher and student behaviors

• Share data with teachers so they can timely analyze those data

• Meet to discuss the data analyses and discuss next steps

• Talk about Learning – not about teaching 

Implications for Practice:• Be mindful of how to connect next 

steps with building teacher efficacy

• Work to build a community of learners who assist one another in meeting school goals

• Learning is hard work – Engage in dialogue, dive deeply into data, and be change agents – learning is hard work

• This work is challenging – enjoy the challenge – error is the best way to learn

Collaborate and Encourage Collaboration! 

It brings together diverse thinkers who engage in authentic conversation that can help shift our thinking, which inspires us to grow as learners

Significance of Collective Efficacy

Strong school culture of efficacy promotes high student achievement, in part, because it leads to the acceptance of challenging goals, strong organizational effort, and a persistence that leads to better performance.

Reflecting and SharingWhat are some ways you can increase the efficacy of your teachers?

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Mastery ExperiencesVicarious ExperiencesSocial PersuasionEmotional & Physiological State

Collective Efficacy Scale* Sample Items

• Teachers in this school really believe every child can learn.

• Teachers here are confident that they will be able to motivate students.

• If a child doesn’t want to learn, then teachers here give up on him or her.

• Drug and alcohol abuse in the community make learning difficult for students.

• Teachers in this school are able to get through to difficult students.

• *http://www.waynekhoy.com/collective_efficacy.html

ReferencesBandura, A. (1997). Self efficacy. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.DiPaola, M. (2012). Conceptualizing and validating a measure of principal support, in M. DiPaola & P. Forsyth (Eds.), Contemporary Challenges Confronting School Leaders (pp. 111‐120). Charlotte, NC: Info Age .DiPaola, M., & Hoy, W. (2014). Improving instruction through supervision, evaluation, and professional development. Charlotte, NC: Info Age.Drago‐Severson, E. & Blum DeStefano, J., 2016. Tell me so I can hear you: A developmental approach to feedback for rducators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press. Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning. New York, NY: Routledge.Hattie, J., &  Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81‐112. Hoy, W. K.,& Miskel, C.G. (2013). Educational administration: Theory, research and practice. New  York, NY: McGraw‐Hill.Killion, J. (2015). The feedback process: Transforming feedback for professional learning. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward.Wiggins, G. (2012, September). 7 keys to effective feedback.Educational Leadership, 70(1), 11– 16.